New Colorado Springs Councilman James “Mike” O’Malley was appointed Monday on a split vote, with two councilmember’s opposing his appointment citing lack of experience in the community and possible racial bias in the process. 

O’Malley, a U.S. Department of Transportation advisor, was appointed on a 6-2 vote to fill Andy Pico’s seat for three months until the April election. O’Malley will represent City Council District 6, which covers northeast and eastern Colorado Springs. Pico vacated his seat at the beginning of January after he was elected to the state General Assembly. 

When O’Malley was informally selected from among four candidates in December, several councilmembers said they preferred O’Malley because some of his views reflected Pico’s conservative positions. 

“We are finishing out Andy’s time on council by appointing someone very similar to him,” Councilwoman Jill Gaebler said Monday. 

Councilman Bill Murray and Councilwoman Yolanda Avila voted against O’Malley’s appointment and a resident also called in to criticize the choice.

Murray argued O’Malley wasn’t as familiar with the community as the other candidates. The new councilman moved to town about a year ago. The other three candidates had lived in town longer.

“We should always award positions representing our city to the best candidate,” he said. 

The other three candidates were black and appointing one of them offered the council an opportunity to expand the diversity of the board that the group passed up, said Walter Lawson, a resident. He called on council to appoint instead Stephany Spaulding, the director of Women’s and Ethnic Studies for  the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Spaulding garnered four votes from council when the board was informally selecting a candidate. 

“You have this chance to improve both racial and gender equality on council and you seem to prefer to blow it,” he said. 

He also called on O’Malley to bow out and “not to magnify the old boys club.”

By appointing O’Malley the council will have seven older white men and no black members, he said. Lawson, in an interview, said he preferred to have a black member of council to help guide police reform and prevent excessive use of force. 

Avila backed Lawson’s position saying the decision was racially biased.  

“This is being decided on racial lines. It’s decided on being white and being male,” she said. 

Councilman Wayne Williams and Gaebler pushed back on the idea that race played a role in the selection.

“It is the role of council not to make decisions based on racial lines, as a couple people have advocated this morning, but instead choose the best qualified individual, I believe that is Mr. O’Malley,” Williams said. 

O’Malley did not comment on the concerns after he was sworn in.